This invention relates to an electrical connector for electrically connecting a flexible printed circuit board to a connecting object, such as an FPC (flexible printed circuit) connector, which is of a ZIF (zero insertion force) type and is for connection with a minimal operating force.
Japanese patent publication (B2) No. 11,105 of (1982) discloses a connector for electrically connecting a flexible printed circuit board to another printed circuit. The flexible printed circuit board comprises a flexible insulator sheet with front and rear surfaces and a sheet end and a conductor pattern extending on said front surface to said sheet end. A rigid insulator plate is bonded onto the rear surface of the flexible printed circuit for reinforcing the flexible board. A connector member is mounted on the circuit board. The connector member has an elastic contact having a terminal portion which is electrically connected to the circuit board. The connecting member has an connector insulator having a contact hole in which the elastic contact is supported to elastically project a contact portion thereof. In order to establish connection of the conductor pattern with the contact, the flexible printed circuit board is inserted together with the rigid insulator plate into the contact hole against a pressing force due to the elasticity of the elastic contact. Therefore, the connector is not a ZIF type. The conductor pattern is disadvantageously damaged by friction with the contact during connecting operation. Accordingly, the flexible printed circuit results in a decreased life time.
There are known in the prior art various multi-row connectors using the flexible printed circuit boards having a plurality of conductor patterns as contact sheets. Examples are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,881,908, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,892,487, and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,102,342.
It is possible in these prior documents to understand that the paired connector comprises contact rows of a plurality of contacts in each contact row. The multi-row connector comprises a first insulator block having a sheet receiving hole. A pair of flexible contact sheets has individual front surfaces and individual sheet ends. On each front surface, rows of parallel conductor patterns are arranged to reach the sheet ends and are not less in number than the contacts in each contact row of a paired or mating connector. The flexible contact sheets are received in the sheet receiving hole in a back to back opposing relation. A second insulator block has a sheet receiving groove for receiving the flexible contact sheets with the sheet ends protruded through the sheet receiving groove. An actuating member is for actuating the flexible contact sheets to bring the parallel conductor patterns near to the contacts of the paired connector after the second insulator block is brought into contact with the paired connector to place the parallel patterns near to the contacts at the sheet ends.
It is additionally possible to understand that the multi-row connector is further for connection to a daughter board having a pair of board surfaces and a shim end having a predetermined thickness between the board surfaces. A plurality of conductive patterns are formed on the board surfaces in correspondence to the conductor patterns of the flexible contact sheets.
In such a conventional multi-row connector, it takes too much labour or many operations to bring the connector into mechanical contact with the paired connector with the conductor patterns brought into electric contact with the contacts of the paired connector. Besides, it is hardly possible to use a plurality of FPCs in the conventional multi-row connector with a high contact density.